Allsports faces administration

Charlton Athletic sponsors Allsports may be forced to call in the administrators this week after entrepreneur Mark Ashley, who owns the Sports World chain, withdrew an offer for the company. It is understood that Allsports is due to pay its quarterly rent by September 25th and that the company's backers are likely to pull the plug before that date if a buyer is not found.

Mr Ashley is thought to have withdrawn his offer because of a fall in the retail chain's sales. Allsports pre-tax profits fell 45 per cent to £3.9m for the year to February 2004. Since then its performance has deteriorated further.

The implications for Charlton are not known, but can hardly be good news for the club. There has been some speculation that T-mobile are waiting in the wings as a possible replacement.